The Miley Cyrus game
Let's play a game.
I'm going to present three disturbing things from the soon-to-be-infamous Vanity Fair article featuring 15-year old Disney product Miley Cyrus, and you choose which is the most disturbing. Got it? Here we go:
1. The topless photo.
2. The fact that she names "Sex and the City" as her favorite television show.
3. Whatever's going on in this picture of Miley and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus.
The answer, of course, is that they're all equally horrifying in their own special way, but not as horrifying as hidden option #4, which is this picture of the topless teen and her hairstylist, who may or may not be Popeye the Sailorman:
Game over. We all lose.
[Photos: Vanity Fair]
Comments:
I think that guy asked me for change the other day.
Posted by: Mike Oz at April 28, 2008 9:43 AM
Aaaw, c'mon, give her a break, the age of consent in South Carolina is 14. She probably only means for these pictures to be viewed in that state.
Posted by: adam at April 28, 2008 10:12 AM
Heather, normally I wouldn't care about this kind of story, but it's really hitting my hypocrisy bone.
Miley's apologizing, but she and her handlers also are trying to place all the blame on photographer Annie Leibovitz and Vanity Fair.
Well, I think ad executive Donnie Deutsch is right when he says the 15-year-old Miley and her crew know she's not going to be 15 forever. She wants to transition to more adult stuff (just as Britney did in her teens). Everyone in show biz knows that Annie Leibovitz can take provocative shots. So when AL asks you to take your shirt off -- and you're 15 -- what did you think was going to happen? I already see there's a dispute going on about whether or not the parents were there when it happened? Did AL manipulate her? Well,I'd almost give Miley the benefit of the doubt -- except her other bra-bearing/strange shots from the Internet keep popping up.
Some people might wonder what's the big deal, that 15-year-olds do a lot of crazy things these days. Maybe so -- but they're not all held up as wholesome, innocent role models bankrolled by the Disney "We're Strictly All About Family Entertainment" conglomerate. Miley has a huge fan base of impressionable pre-teens who spend huge amounts of money on the Miley product. That takes this behavior to a different level, with different responsibilities.
So, for those who care, you're either seeing a fluke in Miley's career or the beginning of the next celeb trainwreck. And, if that's the case, I can only hope that this is one of the last times pre-teen girls seek role models like this. Whatever happened to looking up to talented female teachers, professors, politicians, doctors, lawyers and other career pioneers?
Sound too old-fashioned? Perhaps. But it's a lot better than this alternative -- suckering young girls into spending tons of cash on product that's based on a false premise.
Posted by: felicia matlosz at April 28, 2008 10:36 AM
Felicia, I totally agree with you. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to believe that this is exactly what the Cyruses wanted to happen. All the publicity for their meal ticket, and a handy scapegoat in Annie Leibovitz.
Anyone who has ever seen an issue of Vanity Fair knows that the magazine is all about the "artistic" side of how many actresses' boobs they can show in an issue. The Miley Cyrus Machine knows exactly what it's doing.
They're modeling Miley's career on the Britney Spears plan - except for Britney it was a provocative, barely-dressed Rolling Stone cover. Same old story, just a generation later.
Posted by: Heather at April 28, 2008 11:14 AM
If your kids are looking to the Disney channel for a role model you have failed as a parent.
Fact.
Posted by: Luke Davis at April 28, 2008 5:21 PM
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